Animal rights activists in Germany are contesting three patents on genetically engineered chimpanzees granted this year by the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich. One of the challenges was filed today; the other two will follow shortly, says Ruth Tippe, a spokesperson for a German advocacy group called No Patents on Life.

“It is incomprehensible why the patent office would grant patents on these animals,” Tippe told ScienceInsider in a phone conversation minutes after filing papers with EPO to oppose the first of the three patents.